At the very heart of Billy Barker Days metaphorically and near the heart of Quesnel geographically, the bandstand will be home to Hey Romeo this Friday night as the centrepiece for the Billy Barker Days concert.
Made up of Stacie Roper on vocals, Darren Gusnowsky on guitar and Rob Shapiro on piano, Hey Romeo
A much lauded, hailed as the Top New Talent of the Year at the 2008 Canadian Country music awards, Alberta-grown country band, Hey Romeo has been bounding about our fair dominion on tour, from the Calgary, to Saskatchewan, then out east to P.E.I. and back for the Calgary Stampede in just the first week of July, in support of their third and latest album, Twist of Fate, that came out late last month.
After what lead singer Stacie Roper refers to as a crazy/ amazing couple of weeks, the band has just returned home for four days of rest and relaxation that should see them at their best come Billy Barker Days.
Despite the crazy schedule, Roper and her band mates are looking forward to being back in B.C. again. It’s a province they haven’t spent as much time in as they would like, so any chance to come enjoy our forests and mountains is well received.
And having just passed through here not too many weeks ago, they are looking forward to being back in Quesnel as well.
“I love Quesnel,” Roper Said.
“It’s so pretty there and the people are phenomenal.”
Being from Alberta, the group has played a lot of rodeos, nearly everyone in Alberta according to Roper’s count, and hit a fair amount of festivals besides, giving the band a certain taste for outdoor concerts.
“Indoor concerts have their good parts, like air conditioning, but there’s something about festivals. They’re so much more relaxed, the people have a good time. But if it’s too hot nobody wants to get up and dance or move. And if they’re too cold everyone snuggles up in blankets. You gotta get that in between weather,” said Roper.
It being a free concert adds a certain excitement to the proceedings as well, Roper said, as it offer a more open, welcoming feel.
Besides the venue, Roper has fallen in love with the songs and still is in the honeymoon stage of the relationship with the record, it having just come out half a month ago.
The band met under the spotlight, when Gord Bamford called Roper up to sing during one of his concerts, Gusnowsky and Shapiro were Bamford’s backing band. After that they maintained a working relationship, when Roper needed a band she knew who to call. And feeling better with a band around her, both musically and on the road, the band became official a year later.
The band will be up on the Friendship stage Friday night.